If we talk about server operating systems, then on their list Windows Server 2012. As for any software product from Microsoft, it is necessary to note the performance and ease of operation. There is enormous service support around the world. Previous versions were used for development. The right decision was made to take their best features from previous series and take into account other wishes from clients. The user-oriented interface greatly simplifies the work and also allows for customization for specific requests.

High level of optimization of company operations

Windows Server 2012 is designed to help you recoup your purchase as quickly as possible. The developer did not forget about ensuring the minimum cost of maintenance. The presence of simply incredible functionality is another positive touch. The organization is able to optimize its activities in such a way as to guarantee ideal results. To complete the task, the administrator does not require deep knowledge or significant experience.

What benefits do Windows Server 2012 owners get?

Tremendous prospects are opening up in the creation of network infrastructure. The predecessors of the operating system were also famous for this, but the developer has made a number of further improvements. You can often see the motto “The power of many servers, the simplicity of one tool.”

Automation is implemented almost everywhere where possible. This greatly simplifies the task of system maintenance. Requires much less time and effort on the part of the administrator. Such a moment helps to reduce the cost of operation, which means the payback will happen much faster.

It was possible to achieve excellent security during the data transfer process. This point is especially important since the activities of any organization involve the protection of information. Now it has become easier and more accessible in every way. There are several points that deserve special attention through the use of innovative approaches.

Modern visualization platform

The task of increasing the efficiency of a company's information infrastructure is complex. One of the important factors is server consolidation. Overall, the Windows Server 2012 operating system takes a classic approach to server-side visualization. In order for the platform to satisfy user requests, it has ample opportunities for functional improvements and changes.

If we talk about visualization improvements in Windows Server 2012, we can highlight the following points:

• Using Hyper V Extensible Switch. Its task is to remove various obstacles in the process of setting up IP addresses.
• Changing the position of devices, as well as disks, in such a way that this does not affect their performance. The actual execution of these activities is now much faster when compared with predecessor operating systems.
• You can control the distribution of bandwidth between devices, which allows you to achieve the required level of service.
• While the processor is operating, it collects various information about its functioning. This is especially important when preparing accounts, as well as analyzing internal activities.

Resource management can be called strong point of this operating system. Thus, if there is a need to make some adjustments due to changing requests, this will happen as quickly as possible.

Scalability and performance

Improvements in this direction have been achieved using Hyper-V and some other developments. It was possible to bring certain processes to the hardware level. This allows you to increase operating efficiency with constant physical resources. There are numerous benefits that contribute to increased productivity:

• Hyper-V can provide simultaneous support for up to 64 processes, and up to 1 terabyte of memory is allowed per device
• There is support for no more than 64 nodes and up to 8 thousand devices in one cluster
• Fiber Channel support on virtual devices, due to which the connection to the SAN is made
• Processes are brought to the hardware level, which contributes to the overall optimization of the OS
• Dynamic memory underwent certain changes that allowed it to provide more efficient use already available resources
• Possibility of using new types of information storages

The cloud model of the system is the key to high stability of operation in any situation.

Results

Windows Server 2012 can easily be called not just an improvement on its predecessors, but a major step forward for Microsoft. Increasing attention is being paid to creating cloud technologies that allow for increased efficiency. The programmers tried to optimize any work processes as much as possible. The general trend towards individualization to meet specific needs has continued. The administrator is able to set the settings as required for a particular situation. The operating system is great for keeping detailed records of all actions. This is especially important when implementing control measures. Thus, some points should be highlighted:

1. For all IT services you can set a certain level of availability
2. Recovery after system failures is as simple and transparent as possible for users
3. Using this software product is very effective for any type of business
4. Most system monitoring tasks can be automated, which reduces maintenance costs

Technologies used in Windows Server 2012

It becomes possible to carry out the task of combining the resources of several servers, and working in such a way as if it were just one server. The use of such technologies has made it possible to increase the overall efficiency of operations. It is important to note what can be achieved with a similar approach on a single server, in a multi-server environment and in a large organization.

Benefits for every server

• Increased functionality of Chkdsk. This facilitates the use of disks with significant volume. Their checking will be performed in the background, which takes up much less system resources.
• NIC Teaming. This feature is built-in to Windows Server 2012. Its purpose is to increase the level of resilience to network connection failures. Adapters of any type have the opportunity to use a common set of tools.
• View switch Server installation Core without having to go through the reinstallation process. This allows you to create a small set of basic functions and expand it with additional ones when the need arises.
• O.D.X. The task of changing the location of devices or transferring large documents is simplified. There is a slight reduction in the load on the processor, which has a positive effect on performance.

Benefits when working in a multi-server environment

• Storage migration occurs in dynamic mode. This means that you can change the location of virtual disks without serious load on the processor and temporary loss of access to them.
• There is resource storage available for server programs. This is where you need to store information for some particularly important services.
• iSCSI Target allows you to achieve diskless booting. This helps simplify the execution of tasks while working with the operating system.
• The cluster has an increased resistance to various external or internal influences. Even if there was a failure, recovery from it is carried out in an accelerated manner. Windows Server 2012 can be described as a very flexible OS.
• Clusters can be updated in automatic mode. This greatly reduces the period of planned outages. The new functionality allows you to make the update task much simpler.
• DHCP has increased availability. Recovery from a problem can be achieved without the need to implement a clustering process.
• Server Manager allows you to use a single console to make managing multiple servers more efficient as well as faster.
• Functional Windows PowerShell contributes to the creation of a work automation system certain programs. This console is considered even more reliable than previous operating systems.

Benefits for large organizations

As a result of the previous points, we can note the use of a huge number of new technologies. Many users around the world were able to take advantage of the proposed advantages. It has already been noted that Microsoft has set itself the task of seriously increasing economic efficiency. This allows us to compete even more successfully in global markets with other software product suppliers. Simplifying administrative functionality has become an important bonus for the organization. In this direction we can highlight:

• Storage Spaces. Allows you to greatly simplify the task of managing storage through the use of one panel. It can be customized based on your own requests.
• Additional duplication of information. Improved scalability solutions are used to improve storage efficiency and simplify the process of accessing them.
• You can free up some disk space by a set time. For this purpose, numerous operating algorithms built into the system are actively used. When some amount of data is not important, it can be automatically released if previously specified in the settings.
• AD DS makes deployment not only easier, but also more secure. There are special new operating system developments for this purpose.

Ability to run any program on any type of platform

The developer took into account the need to periodically interact with other devices. So that they take the minimum system resources and provided a high level of optimization, the platform was greatly improved. Numerous tools have been added to work on a variety of tasks.

Statistics show that a considerable number of companies use hybrid schemes. The use of uniform controls will save investments. Improvements in this area include:

• IIS CPU Throttling. When this function is enabled, the maximum allocation of device resources for individual sites or programs is limited. This functionality has proven to be especially effective when working with shared hosting.
• Scaling. Helps to carry out the task of dividing the load simultaneously into several processes. This reduces requests for memory synchronization with other servers. The assigned tasks will be implemented with increased efficiency.
• Caching organized in such a way that it allows you to distribute work between several servers.
• Application of SNI technology helps to increase the level of website protection by achieving a high scaling rate. Thus, several similar sites use one IP address.
• Initializing applications. This feature was added in Windows Server 2012 and is designed to make the job easier for administrators. The system will proactively initialize one or more applications.
• New WebSocket protocol, used to create highly secure online connections. The introduction of this function into the operating system made it possible to create special approach when writing applications for the web.
• ASP.NET 3.5 and ASP.NET 4.5 applications. They are supported by Windows Server 2012, and there are also a large number functionality for the most convenient work. Despite the variety of settings options, the interface remains as simple as possible.
• SSL certificates have centralized support. This approach can significantly reduce operating costs if there are a considerable number of SSL-type sites.
• There is a limit on the number of authorization attempts on FTP. A special service can become a reliable barrier against crude methods of invading a safe zone. Combines a high level of security and simplified control.
• Possibility of banning IP addresses dynamically. Is quite in an effective way provide protection from outside influence DDoS attacks. To increase efficiency, the administrator can configure filter settings based on specific requirements.

User- and system administrator-oriented work style

During the development, modern trends were taken into account. Without this, it is impossible to create an operating system that would be popular with customers. Windows Server 2012 allows you to achieve excellent results:

1. Access can be made from any type of device and from any location where there is access to the network. At the same time, high data security and security of the company database are ensured. This approach allows you to interact more effectively with your employees, partners or clients.
2. Full functionality. Quite often, employees need to work outside the office. They demonstrate much greater efficiency if the environment on other devices does not differ from what they are used to. This applies not only to functionality, but also to the graphic component.
3. High level data security. There is no need to talk about how important task is to ensure safety corporate information. It is for this reason that Microsoft used the most modern approaches to achieve the task.

Key features of Windows Server 2012

The operating system was developed by its creators in order to be as convenient as possible for users. Below are the important features of this version:

• The management console is centralized. This allows for a single point of access with extensive management capabilities.
• Simple system working with virtual desktop infrastructure.
• RRAS has received increased functionality. This allows you to create a standardized remote access service that is highly effective in any situation.
• The deployment model has become much simpler. BranchCache's functionality allows it to be used in conjunction with cloud environments.
• RemoteFX allows you to connect remotely without experiencing discomfort from reduced functionality. An environment with a standard interface is provided. 3D support is provided, which is especially important in some situations.
• Touch screen support, since the developer has implemented the Multi-touch function.
• RemoteFX Network Auto Detect is a very important element for executing processes aimed at optimizing the exchange of information between the server and the client. Parameter settings are carried out automatically, which significantly increases overall efficiency and reduces maintenance costs.
• Security features have been expanded compared to Windows Server 2008. In version 2012, you can note an increase in encryption performance while optimizing resource consumption.
• User Profile Disk makes personalization easier and more efficient. This is achieved by storing settings and other data.
• Ability to perform advanced auditing of information and data flows in the system. It is possible to install selective or full encryption.

Grand total

What can we say about Windows Server 2012? First of all, it is an extremely powerful tool for any organization that allows it to achieve its goals with high efficiency. The product allows you to guarantee comfortable work with the system, regardless of where exactly the users are located. Support involves the presence of hundreds of thousands of qualified specialists anywhere in the world. Don’t forget about the familiar interface and quickly mastered functionality.

Licensing overview

The client can choose the version that best suits him based on his requirements. This must be called one of the most important advantages. A reduction in the number of editions is envisaged in comparison with its predecessors. Now there are only 4 of them - two for small businesses and two main ones. The latter type includes Standard and Datacenter. The differences between them are minor and lie in the rights to use the visualization. Editions provide full access to all features of the Windows Server 2012 operating system.

If we talk about Essentials and Foundation, they took the path of simplification. Additional functionality that is not useful in the process of running a small business has been removed from them. This allows you to achieve attractive prices and accelerate payback processes. You should consider the specifics of the available licenses.

Foundation

It is developed specifically taking into account the requests of individual equipment developers and provides for no more than 15 users. The range of features is limited, but meets the objectives.

Essentials

Used in small business. Licensing provides for installation on a server with the ability to work on a single or dual-processor device. No more than 25 people can gain access. The range of capabilities has been somewhat reduced in accordance with the needs of small organizations.

Standard

Used in case of low degree of virtualization or its complete absence. The set of capabilities is limited, not limited in any way, and is standard for the operating system. The licensing model does not allow for more than two virtual machines.

Datacenter

It is necessary to purchase the edition in case of working with environments that have high degree visualization. The licensing model is per processor and also includes a CAL. The functionality is not limited in any way and you can use the capabilities of the OS without restrictions. The rights to use extend to any extent big number virtual machines.

Licensing of previous versions

Microsoft has a policy of using more earlier versions with reduced functionality. The following options are available:

• The Datacenter edition may be downgraded to any previous versions or editions.
• Standard allows you to obtain a license to work with Enterprise or previous versions

A distinctive feature is required to indicate the preservation of the licensing rule adopted for the operating system. It lies in the fact that one purchase covers no more than two processors. Virtualization application rights are retained. For example, Datacenter provides for an arbitrarily large number of virtual machines, but for Standard there are no more than two.

Microsoft Windows Server Standard 2012 R2 is the software that is the leading server operating system on which the world's largest data centers operate. Version 2012 R2 of the Microsoft Windows Server operating system has a large number of improvements and innovations that reduce the cost of maintaining IT infrastructure and promote business profitability by transforming the virtualization and cloud computing infrastructure. operating room Microsoft system Windows Server 2012 R2 offers new capabilities in the area information technologies, virtualization based on an integrated Hyper-V system, convenient operation and storage solutions to form a simple, efficient and scalable server platform.

Microsoft package Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard contains absolutely full set Windows technologies Server and has one difference from the edition Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Datacenter Package- limit on the number of virtual machines running simultaneously. Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard allows you to run up to two virtual instances. This decision Ideal for companies that have low-density IT environments.

Key features of Microsoft Windows Server Standard:

• network technologies. This software package contains all the tools thanks to which network resources and processes are consolidated and automated, simplifying work with publicly available cloud storage and provides users with convenient access to IT systems, public cloud environments and various services of the organization;
• authentication and access control. The dynamic access control capability of the Windows Server 2012 server operating system provides a completely different approach to authentication and access management. Active Service Directory has also been improved;
• remote access . Windows Server 2012 has several options for organizing remote desktops: session-based remote desktops, personal desktops, and desktop pools. DirectAccess provides secure access remote users to internal resources without connecting to a VPN. The BranchCache service caches information that business users access;
• service virtualization. Integrated Hyper-V technology helps optimize your investment in server equipment, carries out server virtualization and consolidation of several server roles into separate virtual machines. Windows Server 2012 increases platform scalability and provides additional features and integrated tools that guarantee reliability and efficiency;
• server management. Windows Server 2012 edition provides management of multiple servers and physical or virtual, local or remote devices, uniting them. This solution has new functions of multi-server management and reliable automation, in accordance with industry standards of management technologies;
• high storage availability. The storage system in the server operating system Windows Server 2012 is focused on maximum efficiency. Given software solution uses advanced data storage and delivery capabilities, creates device stacks, and applies optimized information access and data management algorithms;
• network and application platform. The server system provides the flexibility of network applications hosted in local and cloud environments. Delivering the server platform that Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 provides to enterprises and hosting providers, it provides scalability, flexibility and compatibility when building and managing private clouds and during mission-critical operations.

Features of Windows Server 2012 R2

Server operating system Windows Server 2012 R2- a reliable enterprise platform for data centers and clouds, which has proven itself to be efficient and easily scalable software. The server allocates an environment to contain the heaviest workloads and provides necessary tools to restore and ensure uninterrupted service. WITH using Windows Server 2012 R2 websites and applications quickly deploy and scale, and also ensure loyal load distribution between local and cloud environments.

The Windows Server 2012 R2 software package includes a wide range of new and improved features, such as server virtualization, application and web platforms, server automation and management, interaction with networks and storage based on software, organizing virtual desktops, protecting access and important data, and much more.

Licensed Russian version of Microsoft Windows Server Standard 2012 R2.

This license provides the right to use the product on two processors of one server. For example, if the server has 1-2,4,6,8 processors, then at least 1,2,3,4 "2Proc" licenses are required.

Windows Server, the foundation of Microsoft's cloud OS, enables customers to transform their data center with technical enhancements and new hybrid cloud capabilities. All this provides the opportunity to increase resilience to failures, simplify management, reduce costs and speed up the process of delivering business services.

Windows Server 2012 R2 is a proven, scalable, enterprise-class platform for cloud and data center environments that can host the most demanding workloads and provide extensive recovery capabilities to protect against service outages. This allows you to accelerate revenue generation by simplifying core infrastructure, while also reducing costs by using industry standard equipment. Windows Server 2012 R2 helps you quickly develop, deploy, and scale applications and websites, and provides the flexibility to distribute workloads across local environments and a cloud. This allows you to provide flexible, remote access to corporate resources while managing identities in the data center and federated identities in the cloud, and helps protect business-critical information.

Key features of Windows Server 2012:

- Centralized management console Provides a single point of access to control and manage all aspects of your remote desktop deployment.

- Simplified Deployment and updating the virtual desktop infrastructure, both within pools and for personal use.

SMB streaming, which provides Hyper-V with SAN-like performance at a lower cost.

- Enhanced DirectAccess functionality combined with the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) to form the Unified Remote Access service. This combination allows you to use DirectAccess and VPN together. A simplified DirectAccess deployment model is also used, focusing on ActiveDirectory.

- Improvements in BranchCache functionality: simplified deployment model, manageability, and scalability across multiple servers, making it cloud-ready.

RemoteFX for WAN now gives remote desktop users the ability to work in a complete environment even over WAN connections, including USB ports, Aero and 3D support, multimedia capabilities, and multi-touch touchscreen technology. and the RemoteFXNetworkAutoDetect function determines the amount of available bandwidth between the client and server, and automatically optimizes performance.

- Personalizing Remote Desktops by supporting a user profile disk (UserProfileDisk), which stores the user's personal settings and application cache between connections.

- Improved infrastructure security simultaneously uses data classification and centralized access policies, and also allows you to audit data access. High-performance encryption can also be used - selective based on file classification or full, at the level hard drives.

- Determining device ownership User allows administrators to define primary devices or device groups for users or user groups. When used, users will have access to their roaming profile and redirected folders. When logging in from other devices, only the local profile, which will be automatically deleted upon exit.

Based, of course, on the currently available preliminary version. I will try to spend literally a few sentences on each feature to explain its meaning, leaving the implementation details for subsequent publications. Thus, the main goal is to make you general idea about what interesting things the new server will bring, and then you will decide which of these is most applicable to your specific tasks. In general, there will be a lot of text, there will be no pictures at all.

Despite the fact that R2 is a minor OS update, there are a lot of new features. To somehow organize the presentation, I divided these features into three groups: changes in Hyper-V, in network stack and storage management subsystem. By analogy with how this was done at one time in the overview course on Windows Server 2012. Although such a classification is very arbitrary, since many features can be equally classified into several categories at once. Let's start with Hyper-V.

What's new in Hyper-V?

Second generation of virtual machines (Generation 2)

In addition to the usual virtual machines (first generation), you can create virtual machines of a new (second) generation. Many old emulated devices have been removed from these VMs, while maintaining:

boot from virtual hard SCSI disks and virtual SCSI-DVDs;

booting over the network using synthetic network adapters.

The performance of second-generation VMs is higher, the difference is especially noticeable when loading and installing the OS in the VM. Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 and 64-bit are supported as guest OSs for second-generation VMs Windows versions 8 and Windows 8.1.

Remote connection via VMBus (Remote Desktop over VMBus)

If the guest OS is Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows 8.1, and the service is running on these OS Remote Desktop Services (RDS), then you can connect to the RDS services of guest OSs not only over the network, but also directly through the VMBus bus. This connection occurs when you simply open the VM in the Hyper-V console. At the same time, you get all the benefits of an RDP session, such as: display resolution selection, audio support, clipboard support, printer, smart card and USB device redirection. Let me emphasize that the VM may not be connected to the network at all.

Automatic activation

If the virtualization host is Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter, and the guest OS is any Windows edition Server 2012 R2, then such a guest OS is activated automatically provided that the host OS is already activated. Moreover, activation of guest OSes does not require a connection to the network (neither the Internet, nor KMS, nor anywhere else).

Live Migration

• Firstly, the possible migration of VMs from Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2012 R2. We are talking about all possible types of live migration, including shared nothing. This migration option simplifies the transition of infrastructure to Windows Server 2012 R2, since it allows you to avoid stopping running VMs. But we must remember that migration to a previous version, that is, from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2012, is not supported.
• Secondly, live migration between Windows Server 2012 R2 servers is performed by default with data compression (can be disabled), which reduces network load and migration execution time.
• Thirdly, if network adapters with RDMA support are installed on the source and receiver, then dynamic migration can be carried out using the capabilities of these adapters, that is, using SMB Direct technology, which, in turn, speeds up the migration process even more than compression.

Resizing VHDX disks online (VHDX resizing)

In Windows Server 2012 R2, you can increase or decrease the size of virtual hard disks without stopping the VM. Online resizing is only supported for VHDX disks, including the OS disk, and only those connected to a SCSI controller. The feature is available in both the Hyper-V console and PowerShell.

Export/clone VM online (Live VM export/clone)

In Windows Server 2012 R2, you can perform a full export of a VM without turning off the VM, that is, actually create a clone, or export the required snapshot of a running VM.

Quality of Service for storage (Storage QoS)

For each virtual hard VM disk on the go, you can set the maximum and minimum values ​​of input/output operations per second (IOPS). Hyper-V will limit throughput disks on top and generate alerts if disk activity is below a specified minimum threshold. In addition, the resource metering function has been updated, collecting statistics for a given VM or group of VMs. The measurement results now also include IOPS indicators.

Shared VHDX file

Two or more virtual machines can share one virtual hard VHDX format disc. This feature allows you to build guest clusters, that is, clusters whose nodes are VMs. The shared VHDX inside the VM appears as a Shared SAS disk. In principle, it was possible to create guest clusters before. But to do this, it was necessary to explicitly connect the VM to the SAN using, for example, iSCSI or Fiber Channel. However, this option is not entirely optimal for hosters who, ideally, would like to completely abstract their storage systems from the VM level, that is, hide the features of the storage implementation from the VM. Now such a scenario is easy to implement. There is no need to allocate a separate LUN or . The guest cluster is built on the basis of a common VHDX file, which can be located on a CSV volume of a physical failover cluster, or in a shared folder (on a ball) of the Scale-Out File Server. It should be borne in mind that the nodes of the failover cluster or Scale-Out File Server must be running Windows Server 2012 R2. The OS of the virtual machines that make up the guest cluster can be either Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012. In the latter case, it is necessary to update the integration components of the VM.

Hyper-V Replica

Two useful innovations in the VM replication mechanism.

1. A VM replica can, in turn, be replicated. For example, you do not have a second data center where you could replicate a business-critical VM. Therefore, you decide to replicate the VM to the provider’s data center. The provider has additional sites, and to increase the level of fault tolerance of your VM, a replica of this VM is replicated to its second site.
2. Now, in addition to the five-minute replication interval supported in Windows Server 2012, you can set the interval to 30 seconds or 15 minutes.

In addition, it should be recalled that you can configure replication for an arbitrary number of VMs in different data centers. In Windows Azure appeared special service, allowing you to centrally manage (orchestrate) replicas of your VMs.

What's new in networking capabilities?

Virtual RSS (vRSS)

RSS technology, provided it is supported by the host's network adapter, allows incoming host network traffic to be processed by multiple available physical processor cores. However, traffic inside the VM is still processed by a single virtual processor. In Windows Server 2012 R2, thanks to vRSS, it became possible to distribute the processing of network traffic across various VM virtual processors. This is especially important in scenarios where there are few or only one VM running on the host, but very intensively processing network traffic. A similar situation is typical, for example, for various gateways and specialized devices based on Windows Server. To enable vRSS, the host must have a network adapter that supports VMQ.

Dynamic traffic balancing mode in NIC Teaming (NIC Teaming Dynamic Mode)

The technology built into Windows Server 2012 allows you to aggregate multiple network adapters into a group, providing fault tolerance and balancing network traffic. Balancing is possible in two modes: Hyper-V Port, when the VM actually running on the host is matched to a certain network adapter of the teaming group; Address Hash, when essentially traffic to a specific TCP or UDP port (or IP address) is routed through a specific group adapter. Windows Server 2012 R2 introduced another balancing mode - dynamic. In this case, outgoing traffic is divided into so-called flowlets and distributed among all adapters in the group. This mode allows you to achieve a more uniform distribution of traffic across existing network adapters. For example, let’s assume that on a host, four network adapters are teamed together, while three VMs are running. In the case of Hyper-V Port balancing mode, outgoing traffic from the VM will be transmitted using only three adapters in the group (each VM will be “tied” to one network device), in the case of dynamic mode – using all four.

Extended ACLs

In Windows Server 2012, you can set each Hyper-V Extensible Switch port, thereby allowing or denying traffic to a specific MAC address or IP address, in one or both directions. In Windows Server 2012 R2, in the ACL settings, it became possible to additionally specify the protocol, port, and also set the stateful flag for, for example, advanced traffic analysis.

Remote monitoring of network traffic (Remote Live Monitoring)

New features in WMI and ETW make it possible to remotely monitor network traffic in online mode, or collecting information for subsequent offline analysis. To do this on your own workstation you install Microsoft Message Analyzer (the next version of Network Monitor, currently in beta) and specify the traffic of which host or even a specific VM on this host you are interested in. It is clear that the host is supposed to be running Windows Server 2012 R2; the mentioned WMI and ETW extensions are available only in this OS.

Changes to Network Virtualization

I will mention the four most important changes in technology (Network Virtualization, NV).

1. Integration with NIC Teaming. Now on hosts that use network virtualization, you can use network adapter timing together with NV for both failover and traffic balancing.
2. NVGRE Task Offload. Network adapters with NVGRE support are beginning to appear on the market, allowing some of the tasks associated with processing NV traffic to be transferred to the adapter hardware level. Naturally, this is primarily intended to improve the performance of network operations.
3. Hyper-V Extensible Switch in Windows Server 2012 “sees” only CA addresses when using NV. On the contrary, in Windows Server 2012 R2, the switch also works at the PA address level, which allows you to configure rules for forwarding, filtering, and packet inspection taking into account NV.
4. Built-in software gateways. Windows Server 2012 R2 can now act as a turnkey gateway for NV, connecting VMs running network virtualization to the outside world. At the same time, both traffic routing and Site-to-Site tunneling are supported.

Standards Based Switch Management

Switches that support Open Management Infrastructure (OMI) can be managed via PowerShell. Windows Server 2012 R2 added a set of cmdlets that allow you to set the necessary settings for switches: configure VLANs, specific ports, etc.

IP Address Management (IPAM)

Module for interacting with System Center Virtual Machine Manager now allows you to configure two-way information exchange between VMM and the IPAM service and accumulate data on both physical and virtual address space in IPAM.

What's new in storage management?

VHDX support in iSCSI Target

iSCSI Target Server, which, let me remind you, is a built-in component of the server OS, now supports the VHDX format with all the ensuing consequences: support for files up to 64 TB in size, increasing/reducing VHDX sizes online, etc. VHDX is now the default format for iSCSI Target , Full SMI-S support has been implemented for iSCSI Target management using VMM. Slightly deviating from the topic, I’ll note here that from the System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager console you can not only configure iSCSI storage with SMI-S support, but also create and configure a Scale-Out File Server, both from hosts with already installed Windows Server 2012 R2 and bare metal.

File Cluster Enhancements

A file cluster in Windows Server 2012 can be configured in active-active mode, where all cluster nodes can handle SMB client connections to shared folders (cluster shares). That's what it is . This mode implies the presence of CSV volumes (Cluster Shared Volume), since requests to read/write to the same file stored on shared cluster storage can come from different (active) cluster nodes. CSV implements just such an opportunity. But for each CSV volume, an owner is still assigned, who is responsible for operations on metadata (creating, renaming, deleting files, etc.). Let's imagine that another SMB client connects to the cluster and tries to create a file. The SMB connection from the client is processed by a specific cluster node, say Node3. But the owner of the volume where the file needs to be created is Node2. In this case, the request is redirected (SMB Redirect) over the network from Node3 to Node2, and the latter, as the owner of the volume, performs the file creation operation. So, in Windows Server 2012, all connections from a particular SMB client were processed by the same cluster node, in the example given by Node3, which could generate a large number of redirection operations. In Windows Server 2012 R2, connections are monitored not per server, but per share. If the same SMB client connects to another cluster share, then another cluster node can handle this connection. This approach provides more optimal load balancing between cluster nodes. Moreover, ownership of the various CSV volumes belonging to the cluster is now automatically distributed among the cluster nodes, and this distribution changes when the cluster configuration changes (adding a node, failing over a node, etc.).

SMB Bandwidth Management

In Windows Server 2012 R2, you can set a limit, expressed in bytes per second, for certain types of SMB traffic. There are currently three such predefined types: VirtualMachine (traffic between virtual machine and VHDX file located on the SMB file server), LiveMigration (live migration traffic if SMB is used), Default (all other traffic). Limits are set using the Set-SMBBandwidthLimit cmdlet.

Deduplication enhancements

First introduced in Windows Server 2012, deduplication is now supported, including for open VHD/VHDX files, for CSV volumes connected to Scale-Out File Server.

Support for tiered storage in Storage Spaces (Storage Spaces – Storage Tiering)

When creating Storage Spaces pools in Windows Server 2012 R2, you can combine SSD and HDD drives into separate tiers. To improve performance, the OS automatically places the most needed data on the SSD level, plus the administrator can explicitly specify which specific files need to be located at this level.

That's not all. As I already said, I selected the most interesting possibilities from my subjective point of view. In the future, we will talk about some of them, as well as those that were not included in the review, in more detail. If you have any suggestions on what to talk about first, write.

The torrent distribution contains 19 images with different languages including the Russian Windows Server 2012 r2 x64 original image from Microsoft. Installing Windows server 2012 r2 allows you to choose 4 server installation options. Such as
Windows server 2012 r2 standard With graphical interface and without (using command line) And
Windows server 2012 r2 datacenter with and without graphical interface.
All Windows options servers are only available on 64 bit x64 systems.
The entire torrent weighs 96.5 GB, which is a lot and it’s unlikely that anyone needs images with all nineteen languages. Therefore, when downloading a client via torrent, do not forget to uncheck all the checkboxes and when selecting a file with ru Windows Server 2012 in Russian, put a checkmark only on the ru image. ISO image It weighs a little more than 5 Gig and will download faster than the entire folder with all the images.

Interface language: Russian, English, German, etc.
Treatment: KMSAuto but it's better to buy Windows license Server 2012 r2 only some 800 Baku.
Russian ISO size: 5.32 Gb

Windows server 2012 r2 x64 rus download torrent server from Microsoft in Russian

System requirements
Processor: minimum 1.4 gig (GHz) 64-bit
RAM: minimum 2Gb
Free space on HDD or SSD hard drive: at least 32 GB
Graphics adapter: minimum Super VGA (1024 x 768)
The minimum requirements are rather conditional values. As a rule, Server Windows is installed on powerful hardware. Since tasks need to be performed that are resource-intensive.

After installing Windows Server 2012 you will see the following picture

What is a server: Windows Server 2012 R2 is a stable, scalable 64-bit enterprise platform for data centers and cloud environments that allows you to host the most resource-intensive workloads and use the broadest capabilities, including recovery to protect against power outages and service interruptions. This enhances the revenue generation process due to the simplicity of the underlying infrastructure. Windows setup Server 2012 R2 helps you quickly deploy, develop, and scale websites and applications, and provide the flexibility to balance workloads between the cloud and on-premises environments. This allows you to provide remote access to corporate resources while simultaneously managing identities in the data center with identities included in the federated registry in the data cloud, and also reliably protects business-critical and private information.

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Setting up Windows Server 2012 is accessible to experienced users; it can't be described in a few words. First of all, you need to understand why you need a Windows server, it’s not for toys and not for getting stuck on the Internet. This is a special tool for specific purposes and solving assigned problems. You can download Windows Server 2012 torrent for free from our website. But to work with this operating system in an enterprise, you will most likely have to buy a license Windows key server 2012 from Microsoft.

Windows server 2012 password
A small note, this is not written there. At Windows installation Server 2012 will ask you to enter and repeat your admin password. So, the password must contain Latin letters, small and large, and also numbers, and in addition to everything, it must contain symbols like (!, $, #, %). In general, a four-level password. This is all for your own safety.